Pronouns

Pronoun Lessons from //Mechanically Inclined//:

1. Vague Pronoun Reference Lesson: "Marking the Text--In Reference to Pronouns" Description: This lesson involves having students work in pairs on an activity. For the activity, students will be given an excerpt from a literary piece and will be asked to find the pronouns in this excerpt. They will then draw an arrow from the pronoun to the pronoun's antecedent. (Anderson 103-14)

2. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Error Lesson: "Where Have All the Pronouns Gone?" Description: Students are given a collection pronouns written on small pieces of paper. They are then give a text selection with the pronouns removed. Students work in groups to place the pronouns in the blank spaces and some examples are shared after every group is done. An alternate way to have students complete this activity is to have them fill in the blanks with the pronoun that they believe is correct. (Anderson 108-109)

3. Pronoun Case Error Lesson: "The Case of the Pesky Pronoun" Description: This lesson teaches students a trick to realizing when to use I vs. me when talking about oneself and another person. Additionally, it helps them practice correcting sentences that have pronoun flaws. After they work on correcting the pronouns from the examples that they are given, they will pair up and one student will write a sentence with a pronoun error and then the other student will fix it. They will then switch and the other students will get a chance to write a sentence with a pronoun error and their partner will correct it. (Anderson 111-112)

4. Possessive Apostrophe Error Lesson: Students will be given a sample text, in which they must locate possessive pronouns and words that have apostrophes. They will then divide a piece of chart paper into four quadrants. In the top-left quadrant they will list words with apostrophes that denote ownership or possession. In the top-right quadrant they will list words with apostrophes that represent contractions as well as define the function of an apostrophe in a contraction. In the bottom-left quadrant they will list possessive pronouns and write that possessive pronouns never have apostrophes. In the bottom-right quadrant they will write down the pronouns with apostrophes that form contractions. (Anderson 114-115)

Online Resources:

1. http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/pronouns.htm This website offers definitions of punctuations and parts of speech, provides examples of correct and incorrect use of these grammatical elements, and supplies users with grammar quizzes.

2. http://www.k12reader.com/subject/pronouns/ This website offers worksheets to provide to students for extra practice in grammar concepts.

3. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/pronouns-baseball.shtml This website displays a lesson plan that provides teachers with activities for pronoun practice.

References:

Anderson, J. (2005). //Mechanically Inclined//. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers

Grammar-Monster. (n.d.). //What are pronouns?//. Retrieved from http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/pronouns.htm

K12 Reader. (2012). //Pronoun Worksheets.// Retrieved from http://www.k12reader.com/subject/pronouns/

Hopkins, G. (2012). //Play ball: A pronoun lesson.// Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/pronouns-baseball.shtml